Two of Ajah’s fundraising experts recently participated in the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Fundraising Day in Toronto, and came back with a number of insights we’re eager to share with you.
First, here’s a report from Fundraising solutions manager Isabella Flanagan:
I so enjoyed my time at AFP’s Fundraising Day conference in Toronto. I learned a few interesting and helpful tips from the best, and thought that they may be beneficial for you and members of your team!
Denise Dias and Katie McMillan of Toronto’s own Royal Ontario Museum ran a fantastic session on building a strong and empathetic relationship between marketers and fundraisers. They suggested that these teams should work closely to cultivate a working relationship that is “more partnership than service centre,” to avoid falling out of touch with the demands of each other’s workloads.
In particular, they suggested that fundraising and marketing teams collaborate at every stage of a project, from initial brainstorming sessions to the final product. This way all stakeholders on staff the opportunity to be heard and to address problems that may arise due to a lack of communication between departments.
I also really appreciated McMillan and Dias’ focus on developing and using thorough forms to track project progress, and of course, their suggestion to rely on using this data to inform future processes. (Click here to see their presentation.)
I was also intrigued by the values-based marketing session presented by Farrah Rooney and Chris Carter. The main takeaway: just as brands take advantage of values-based marketing, nonprofits can do the same, marketing causes by attaching them to our core values.
Much like how Nike capitalized on the ethos of Colin Kaepearnick and Black Lives Matter to sell sneakers, charities are uniquely positioned to cater to the values of their prospects in hopes of gaining interest and support.
The key to successfully carrying out a values-based marketing campaign is to use demographic data to understand the values of your prospects. Start by understanding what is important to your prospects. What is valued by your organization’s donors? How can these values be linked to what it means to be a donor? Can this then be transposed into a campaign?
This process becomes especially useful, according to Carter and Rooney, when it comes to appealing to younger generations. Millennials and GenZ are tough nuts to crack - unlike their boomer predecessors, these younger prospects are significantly less likely to choose to support nonprofits. Again, looking into demographic data could provide the key to capturing the attention of this elusive audience.
Most young people tend to define themselves as being liberal, so using imagery that connotes a left-learning identity could attract the younger set.
This being said, as a millennial, I see brands attempting to cater to my alleged values daily, and more often than not, it comes off as opportunistic and skeevy. We don’t care that our sneakers are “liberal” - we care that they are comfortable, cool, and if we’re lucky, climate and wallet friendly. The same goes for supporting not-for-profits - we just want to know that our money is going to work in the most effective way possible.
We hope these insights can help you find greater success in your own efforts. Happy fundraising!